"Okay!"

"Thank you for all your trouble."

"It’s no trouble. Changyi, I’ve been discussing this with your other clan uncles for the past couple of days. We’re preparing to add your younger sister to the family register. What are your thoughts on that?"

Xie Changyi was no fool.

They must have heard about her sister’s accomplishments in Chuncheng and were now trying to curry favor.

’They refused to add us before, so why the sudden change of heart now?’

"It was because we were afraid of an investigation back then; the clan uncles didn’t dare to add you. But now Changning is so accomplished! According to our ancestral precepts, she’s eligible for her own separate page in the family register!"

Xie Changyi’s eyes darted back and forth at her granduncle’s words. She replied slowly.

"I need to ask my sister about this. It’s best if you wait for my response, Granduncle."

’What if her sister felt no attachment to the Xie Family?’

’For now, I won’t let them be added.’

But the granduncle was a shrewd man.

He could hear the dissatisfaction with the Xie Family in Xie Changyi’s tone.

However, the Xie Family needed Xie Changyi and Xie Changning now. They would certainly not let go of this opportunity, leaving the two sisters off the family register.

This was a matter of bringing glory to the family name!

"You’re both good kids, and I’m very fond of you. I really want to add you to the family register, so you must have a proper talk with your sister, understand?"

The granduncle pressed her again and again.

Xie Changyi gave a perfunctory reply and then hung up.

After hanging up, she sat back down on her kang, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She turned to look at a photo frame on her desk.

The photo in the frame was only of herself, but in the empty space beside her, she had drawn in her parents when she was little.

Ever since she was seven, her parents’ images could not be shown in public.

So, even when she had her picture taken, she could only leave an empty space and draw them in herself afterward.

The figures were crooked and clumsy. Her heart had been filled with resentment back then. ’Everyone else has their parents with them, so why don’t I?’

’Looking back on it now, I was so childish.’

She picked up the photo frame and whispered, "If you could see how hard things were for my sister, would you regret entrusting your children to Xie Zi?"

Xie Changning, who was in the middle of a meal at home, suddenly sneezed several times in a row.

Worried she was catching a cold, the two aunts hurried to boil some ginger water for her.

Ginger water tasted awful, but it was effective.

Xie Changning didn’t have the heart to reject the two aunts’ good intentions, so she could only suppress the urge to vomit and drink it down. And then—

A warmth spread through her body; it was a distinct change from before.

Noticing Xie Changning’s flushed cheeks, the two aunts couldn’t help but laugh. "We knew ginger water was good for you, but we didn’t think it would be *this* good."

The effect was instantaneous!

"It’s just so disgusting!" Xie Changning scrunched up her face as she complained.

Aunt Wang stifled a laugh.

Aunt Zhao shook her head. "What was that old saying... good medicine is... something... I’m not very educated, I can’t remember the exact words. Anyway, it means that bitter medicine is good for what ails you!"

"You mean, ’good medicine is bitter to the tongue but benefits the illness’?" Xie Changning asked, shaking her head helplessly.

’That may be true, but I still never want to drink ginger water again!’ Xie Changning thought.

The two aunts collected the bowls and left Xie Changning to play with the two children.

After playing for a bit, she had the aunts take the children to be put to bed.

Around eight or nine o’clock, when things grew quiet in the children’s room, Xie Changning approached the door to her workshop and silently recited a phrase—

’I am your father!’

’She had no idea what she’d done to offend the space, but it seemed to get a kick out of making a fool of her every time she entered!’

The experience points within the space had been skyrocketing thanks to Xie Changning’s job promotions. She was now the host of a space that contained an entire laboratory floor!

It had already achieved integrated transport and repair.

She no longer needed to place components on the workbench one by one; now, a robotic arm on the workbench would retrieve them and position them itself.

By the time Xie Changning entered, most of the components from the storage room were already repaired.

Xie Changning closed the door and moved the repaired machine components out of the space. Tomorrow, she would ask Wang Guofu next door to help her send them back to the main factory.

Life was getting better by the day, and the small-scale printer was gradually being optimized.

After the new machine components arrived at the factory, Xie Changning announced the research team’s third area of focus. "The item we’ll be taking to the next Autumn Trade Fair is called a ’drone’!"

"A drone?"

It was the first time anyone had heard the word. Unsure what a "drone" was, all eyes turned to Xie Changning, awaiting her explanation.

Xie Changning took the schematics she’d drawn and posted them on the black wall for everyone.

The drone Xie Changning planned to develop was a small model, the kind used for filming in a later era. After developing this small drone, she would move on to researching agricultural drones.

"Holy crap, this thing can fly?"

"A drone... don’t tell me it’s an unmanned aircraft!?"

"What!? This thing’s a plane!?"

None of them had ever flown in an airplane, but from pictures they’d seen, they all knew that airplanes were big things with two wings—nothing like what their factory director had drawn.

’Airplanes come in this shape, too?’ one of them wondered.

All eyes were on the drone schematics as they discussed its name and whether it could really be considered an airplane.

"Our team members are very clever. As you’ve figured out, this is the direction I want to focus on next: a small, unmanned aircraft—or ’drone’ for short." Xie Changning picked up a piece of chalk and wrote the word ’Drone’ on the black wall.

At her words, everyone couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

"It really is a plane!"

"Our factory is going to research airplanes!?"

"But what’s it for?"

They started discussing amongst themselves the potential practical uses once the drone was developed.

The general consensus was that it didn’t seem very useful.

Xie Changning waved her hand dismissively. "What do you mean, not useful? In the future, we can use drones to take photos, shoot videos, and survey terrain. Drones have a wide variety of uses. They can be a person’s eyes, going to higher and more distant places to observe..."

Then, she added teasingly,

"It could also fly all over the factory, letting me sit in my office and keep an eye on all of you."

The workers exchanged hesitant glances.

"Good heavens, that reminds me of my elementary school teacher peeking through the classroom window to see if I was daydreaming!"

"Director, you can’t do that to us!"

"Am I the only one excited about this? I’m thrilled! Our factory is going to develop an unmanned aircraft! What an honor!" one of the female workers exclaimed happily.

She could already imagine the sensation it would cause if they succeeded.

But she had a question.

"Director, if we’re researching drones, does that mean we’re getting into aerospace?"